2020-21 College Basketball thread

TOO SOON

 

I like Scott Drew and have for a long time. But, when he's in front of a microphone, I can see why he has his detractors.

 

Random as I've seen it for two weeks, straight, in the tournament.

Jayson Tatum in the Subway ad. Very natural. Not scripted at all.

 

My sub has bacon.

 

I happen to have spent some sizable time with Mr. Maloney and he’s the greatest dude you could ever meet; this is unwarranted. A PG from Penn who led the Rockets in scoring in a playoff game when his teammates were Drexler and Barkley is pretty amazing already and you’re complaining about his performance in the West finals?? I have to back my guy.

 

Baylor was the more poised and aggressive team from the start. Gonzaga looked rattled from the jump and didn’t handle Baylor’s aggressive D very well. When they try to guard you tight you’ve got to go back door and take advantage. Zags never did. Don’t understand why Zags continued to leave Timme alone 1-1 on perimeter. How about a double team? Or don’t switch?

 

Spokane will always have a champion in Louden Swain.

 

The game was over at 9-0. I buy the Gonzaga was gassed theory to a small extent but Drew flat outcoached Few. Baylor took Timme away and Suggs was in foul trouble, and as has been mentioned, Kispert wasn't good enough to shoulder the load on his own offensively. Add to that Baylor making a bunch of shots and creating turnovers, and it was done by the first media timeout.

I don't know if Gonzaga will ever win a national title in men's basketball. This felt like the shot that had been brewing for three or four years now and they weren't even close tonight. Not sure what the answer is, re: scheduling. Their conference is their conference and the only upgrade regionally for them is the Pac 12, and that seems pretty unlikely. But the truth is, you go three straight months playing subpar competition, and then all of a sudden you have to beat five straight major conference opponents. Something changed between that USC game and the Final Four, not sure what. Maybe it was the undefeated pressure. But UCLA nearly beat Gonzaga and Baylor ran it off the floor. Stark contrast to how the Zags toyed with Oklahoma, Creighton and USC.

 

I figured Gonzaga would have trouble playing against someone that ran up and down like they do.
Problem is, Vital was a moose inside on the boards.
Timme and Co. inside wanted nothing to do with him.

 

I don't agree with this. I feel we are always trying to back-fill theories of why a team lost. Now its because Gonzaga plays in the WCC, they can dominate for four games in the NCAAs, then run out of gas. Okay.

Gonzaga was a very good team. They got beat by a better team.

I am old enough to remember that Dean Smith couldn't win the big one. Until he did. Coach K couldn't win the big one. Until he did.

Few has arguably the premier program in the country. Its hard to win a national title.

 

That's fair, and to your final point, very fair. It is incredibly difficult to win a national title in a single-elimination tournament. I think the WCC thing is just a tiny factor but it's there. Baylor had the right recipe to beat Gonzaga last night -- get Suggs off the floor and neutralize Timme. Kudos to them.

 

They lost, this game, that's it. Baylor was better last night and maybe is that much better than any team this year, including one that was 31-0.